Reports of the demise of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser may be somewhat exaggerated.

The Windows default browser, first introduced in 1995 and once virtually the only game in town for PCs, has seen something of a bounce in the last few months, winning back some market share from Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox, according to analytics from Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Net Applications.

Chrome Shines

Google's Chrome browser, however, isn't ceding much ground. It saw the steepest increase in usage since May 2011, from 13.19 percent to 18.57 percent. Chrome peaked in December with 19.11 percent of users, and fell only slightly in the months since, to 18.57 last month.

Safari overall has gained in popularity, rising from 4.37 percent in May to 5.07 in March while the Opera browser lost users, going from 2.10 to 1.62 in the same period. Firefox went from 22.87 to 20.55.

For its part, IE started sinking in August 2011, from 55.31 all the way to 51.87, but has mostly risen since, now capturing 53.83 percent of the market, the highest share since last summer.

At its peak, Internet Explorer had a 95 percent share of the global market in the early 2000s, and Microsoft made improving it a priority. The reversal suggests the software giant has learned from mistakes that allowed competitors to gain some ground.

"In the latest version of Explorer, Microsoft has made some significant improvements and addressed issues, particularly around security that have been problematic in past versions," said Charles King, principal analyst of Pund-IT.

Security features for IE now include domain highlighting, which lets users easily see the real URL on Web sites in the address bar to avoid phishing; SmartScreen Filter; a Manage Add-ons tool to choose acceptable browser add-ons and delete unwanted ActiveX controls and a cross-site scripting filter, to keep phony Web sites from stealing ID and financial data.

But King added that the best thing going for Internet Explorer is its ubiquity.

"Despite the rise in popularity of alternative browsers such as Firefox, Chrome and Safari, a very large percentage, probably a majority of users tend to leave the browsers in place that came with the system when they brought it home from the store ," he said. "Not to say there aren't better alternatives out there, but if you are less experienced with technology you tend to use the native browser."

So the idea of IE slipping to oblivion "is kind of an exaggeration and wishful thinking on some people's part. The new Explorer does seem to be worthy of some additional attention and popularity that it has achieved."

Tell Us What You Think

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Twilight-trekker:

Posted: 2012-04-08 @ 4:20pm PT

I use IE because I can limit what runs with it. I use it with IXquick which doesn't track my IP address unlike Google Chrome that tracks every site visited and also uses gmail accounts to limit your searches results and to benefit their ad campaigns. And unlike Firefox I like being able to download a file to any folder that I choose. I like a browser that I can control.

d mcfarlan:

Posted: 2012-04-03 @ 3:44pm PT

I have used Opera for over a year, and I can say it's getting much better....Unfortunately the browser fails compatibility with websites such as Netflix, Staples.com, and several others which leaves me no choice but to use Firefox for those few websites...BUT OPERA ALL THE WAY.

CMan:

Posted: 2012-04-02 @ 6:14pm PT

I myself have less problems with Opera than with IE, even though I'd have to say IE is more powerful. But when either would sometimes crash, Opera would shut itself down and bring up an error log, whereas IE would just sit there for me to have to force it to close.